Church insisted on pornography ban in 1960s

A Government ban on pornography posted in from England was insisted upon by the Catholic Church here, according to papers released today.

The documents, published under the thirty-year rule, show that the then Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland John Charles McQuaid demanded action from the government over brochures advertising adult videos which arrived into the country in 1965.

He sent a terse handwritten letter to the home of a senior ministerial aide along with the X-rated material which had been given to him by a pharmacist.

In a draft reply to the archbishop, the then Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan moved to ease the prelate's concerns with by stating he would alert the relevant State agencies.

“There is no doubt that this kind of merchandise would be stopped by the Customs officials if they found it. This applies to the advertising material as well as the films to which it relates,” he wrote.